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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/13/19 in all areas

  1. Today started at 3am this morning. It snowed all day yesterday and we had 4-5”s of perfect tracking snow last night when I went to bed. Checking the weather last night showed cold and windy- the absolute dream conditions for a tracker. My plan for the day was drive about 15 miles around to a mountain I’ve been wanting to hunt but haven’t made it to yet. On the drive out I cut a track on the dirt road. I figured the track couldn’t be more than a few hours old. The track wasn’t huge but the buck had a pretty wide stagger, a very long stride and was dragging his toes. I’ve always called a buck track that really drags his toes as a cross county skier. His feet were long but the lacked the width I usually am looking for. I don’t know why but the track intrigued me and it was heading toward a mountain I’ve never hunted. I waited in the truck for a little over an hour waiting for some light then started on his track at about 530am by mostly moonlight but I wanted to get started because I knew I had some ground to make up . This was by far the hardest track I’ve had. At 11oclock I stopped for the first time. Got a baggy of water from a stream had 2 little candy bars and pulled out my gps to see where in the hell I was. At that time I felt I was farther from him than I was when I started on his track. We had went 9.9 miles over some very rugged terrain, over 2 mountains 2 rivers one of them twice. He showed no signs of slowing down so I knew I was going to have to kick it in high gear if I was going to catch him today. I could tell he was making a big loop but what I couldn’t understand was he cut 10-15 doe tracks and would follow them for 10-30yds then he would leave them and head off on his own direction. One thing I kept noticing was that he wouldn’t go between any trees that didn’t have at least a 30” gap, this usually means he has a wide rack. This buck kept doing something I’ve never seen one do before in my life he would do little tear drop shaped loops “10ft-20yds” then cross his own track and head off in a different direction “usually 90degrees”. He did make one big loop “about a mile” and he cut back over his own track. I studied those tracks for a couple minutes and was almost positive it was the same buck but I really hate leaving a track so I kept going at a good hustle and only wasted 15-20 minutes confirming my beliefs that it was his track. At about 12:30 he went down into a spruce swamp, my most dreaded place for a buck to head. If I think I’m close to a buck ill leave the track and do a loop around to see if he came out but I still knew I was far enough behind him that I figured even if he had bedded in there he wouldn’t still be in his bed. I am glad I just barged through there because I found his bed with tracks walking out that were noticeably fresher but still a long ways from fresh “I figured a couple hours.” After another mile or so he was following a ridge around a small mountain. He did one of his funny little loops and headed in another direction straight up hill. Usually a direction change is a good sign that he’s going to bed down but by this time he had done it 20 or 25 times which was totally throwing me off. I don’t know why but something was different about this turn, it just didn’t make any sense why he would do it when he was following a nice open ridge unless he was going to bed down. I knew I was still a ways behind him but I slowed down at this point, not to a crawl but much slower than my mall walker pace I’d been doing since 6am. I got up almost to the top and slowed to a crawl. Taking 1 step every 3-4 minutes as I crested the peak. His track kept going the same direction heading into the saddle between the two peaks. I stood there for probably 10 minutes I’m not sure why but something kept telling me to hold still. Finally just when I was about to start heading into the saddle I saw him stand up out of his bed about 100yds away 3/4’s the way up the hill, he was completely in the open except for his ears up. I knew it was the buck I was after but I wasn’t going to shoot until I saw his rack, we had a stair off for what felt like forever but probably no more than 5 minutes it felt way longer holding the bead on his white patch just waiting to see antlers. The wind was blowing directly at him so I don’t think he saw me he stood up when he couldn’t see what he smelled. He finally turned and started walking at a good clip broadside but it was too thick for a shot. Finally I had what looked like a basketball sized hole that he walked into and I shot. He buckled and I sent 3 more his way as he was running quartering away hard. I knew he was hit so I put in a fresh magazine in and slowly made my way over to where he was when I fired my first shot, my basketball hole I thought I was shooting through had about a 4” branch that was cut in half in the middle of it from my first shot, But I could see where he stumbled so I knew the 35 caliber 200ish grain customized Barnes bullet made it to him. I started getting more blood that confirmed I hit him as he was running. After a 50ish yard tracking job I saw him get up at about 25yds broadside and put one behind his shoulder. He went down after 2 bounds. I gave him a few minutes to make sure he was dead and made my way up to him, I knew he had a decent rack and I confirmed my suspension that he wasn’t a big bodied deer. I hadn’t looked at my compass or GPS since my 11 o’clock water break so I pulled out my gps and realized I was only just under 2 miles from a road. But I also realized I was 6.5 miles as a crow flies from my truck. After a few pictures I gutted him and started dragging. The drag wasn’t terrible just had to go through a swamp over a stream and over a mountain and a big hill then up a very steep hill that was littered with blow downs to where the road was. I got him to the road by 4 o’clock but knew I had a long long walk by road back to the truck. I got to the truck at a little before 6pm. Pretty easy loading job because he didn’t weigh much and. Was able to back into the ditch making the tailgate about a foot off the ground. Back to camp around 6:45 and put him on the scale, he weighs 173 I was guessing 160 so I was a little surprised he is as heavy as he is. He’s a main frame 10 but both of his brow tines are broke off ones about 2”s the other I don’t think is an inch, he also has a broken G4 that looks like it happened in velvet. I don’t know if he’s technically a 8 or a 9 but I don’t care, he’ll look good on the wall with the other Adirondack bucks. Grand total of 23 miles of walking on the gps, I forgot to check when I killed him but I’m guessing it was around an 11 or 12 mile track. I sure am glad I took this track this morning he’s not my biggest buck but he was by far one of the hardest I’ve killed, he sure did make me earn him. I’m really looking forward to butchering him and hoping to find a bullet still in him. The bullets I’m shooting are 225gn Barnes tsx that I drilled the hollow point out to make them expand at the slower 35rem velocities. The bullets performed very well in my testing but I’m very curious how the perform on an animal. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    60 points
  2. Hot off the wire, here's the bobcat Dan trapped a couple weeks ago.......................
    40 points
  3. Finally! I waited an hour for the deer to expire and to see if a buck would be following before I tracked it. Needed to crawl on hands and knees for 30 yards to pull it out of very thick cover...it ran in the right direction though...trapping/butcher shed within sight. Going to hunt with my brother for the last bit of daylight...never know...
    36 points
  4. Snow came and I capitalized today. Today started at 3am this morning. It snowed all day yesterday and we had 4-5”s of perfect tracking snow last night when I went to bed. Checking the weather last night showed cold and windy- the absolute dream conditions for a tracker. My plan for the day was drive about 15 miles around to a mountain I’ve been wanting to hunt but haven’t made it to yet. On the drive out I cut a track on the dirt road. I figured the track couldn’t be more than a few hours old. The track wasn’t huge but the buck had a pretty wide stagger, a very long stride and was dragging his toes. I’ve always called a buck track that really drags his toes as a cross county skier. His feet were long but the lacked the width I usually am looking for. I don’t know why but the track intrigued me and it was heading toward a mountain I’ve never hunted. I waited in the truck for a little over an hour waiting for some light then started on his track at about 530am by mostly moonlight but I wanted to get started because I knew I had some ground to make up . This was by far the hardest track I’ve had. At 11oclock I stopped for the first time. Got a baggy of water from a stream had 2 little candy bars and pulled out my gps to see where in the hell I was. At that time I felt I was farther from him than I was when I started on his track. We had went 9.9 miles over some very rugged terrain, over 2 mountains 2 rivers one of them twice. He showed no signs of slowing down so I knew I was going to have to kick it in high gear if I was going to catch him today. I could tell he was making a big loop but what I couldn’t understand was he cut 10-15 doe tracks and would follow them for 10-30yds then he would leave them and head off on his own direction. One thing I kept noticing was that he wouldn’t go between any trees that didn’t have at least a 30” gap, this usually means he has a wide rack. This buck kept doing something I’ve never seen one do before in my life he would do little tear drop shaped loops “10ft-20yds” then cross his own track and head off in a different direction “usually 90degrees”. He did make one big loop “about a mile” and he cut back over his own track. I studied those tracks for a couple minutes and was almost positive it was the same buck but I really hate leaving a track so I kept going at a good hustle and only wasted 15-20 minutes confirming my beliefs that it was his track. At about 12:30 he went down into a spruce swamp, my most dreaded place for a buck to head. If I think I’m close to a buck ill leave the track and do a loop around to see if he came out but I still knew I was far enough behind him that I figured even if he had bedded in there he wouldn’t still be in his bed. I am glad I just barged through there because I found his bed with tracks walking out that were noticeably fresher but still a long ways from fresh “I figured a couple hours.” After another mile or so he was following a ridge around a small mountain. He did one of his funny little loops and headed in another direction straight up hill. Usually a direction change is a good sign that he’s going to bed down but by this time he had done it 20 or 25 times which was totally throwing me off. I don’t know why but something was different about this turn, it just didn’t make any sense why he would do it when he was following a nice open ridge unless he was going to bed down. I knew I was still a ways behind him but I slowed down at this point, not to a crawl but much slower than my mall walker pace I’d been doing since 6am. I got up almost to the top and slowed to a crawl. Taking 1 step every 3-4 minutes as I crested the peak. His track kept going the same direction heading into the saddle between the two peaks. I stood there for probably 10 minutes I’m not sure why but something kept telling me to hold still. Finally just when I was about to start heading into the saddle I saw him stand up out of his bed about 100yds away 3/4’s the way up the hill, he was completely in the open except for his ears up. I knew it was the buck I was after but I wasn’t going to shoot until I saw his rack, we had a stair off for what felt like forever but probably no more than 5 minutes it felt way longer holding the bead on his white patch just waiting to see antlers. The wind was blowing directly at him so I don’t think he saw me he stood up when he couldn’t see what he smelled. He finally turned and started walking at a good clip broadside but it was too thick for a shot. Finally I had what looked like a basketball sized hole that he walked into and I shot. He buckled and I sent 3 more his way as he was running quartering away hard. I knew he was hit so I put in a fresh magazine in and slowly made my way over to where he was when I fired my first shot, my basketball hole I thought I was shooting through had about a 4” branch that was cut in half in the middle of it from my first shot, But I could see where he stumbled so I knew the 35 caliber 200ish grain customized Barnes bullet made it to him. I started getting more blood that confirmed I hit him as he was running. After a 50ish yard tracking job I saw him get up at about 25yds broadside and put one behind his shoulder. He went down after 2 bounds. I gave him a few minutes to make sure he was dead and made my way up to him, I knew he had a decent rack and I confirmed my suspension that he wasn’t a big bodied deer. I hadn’t looked at my compass or GPS since my 11 o’clock water break so I pulled out my gps and realized I was only just under 2 miles from a road. But I also realized I was 6.5 miles as a crow flies from my truck. After a few pictures I gutted him and started dragging. The drag wasn’t terrible just had to go through a swamp over a stream and over a mountain and a big hill then up a very steep hill that was littered with blow downs to where the road was. I got him to the road by 4 o’clock but knew I had a long long walk by road back to the truck. I got to the truck at a little before 6pm. Pretty easy loading job because he didn’t weigh much and. Was able to back into the ditch making the tailgate about a foot off the ground. Back to camp around 6:45 and put him on the scale, he weighs 173 I was guessing 160 so I was a little surprised he is as heavy as he is. He’s a main frame 10 but both of his brow tines are broke off ones about 2”s the other I don’t think is an inch, he also has a broken G4 that looks like it happened in velvet. I don’t know if he’s technically a 8 or a 9 but I don’t care, he’ll look good on the wall with the other Adirondack bucks. Grand total of 23 miles of walking on the gps, I forgot to check when I killed him but I’m guessing it was around an 11 or 12 mile track. I sure am glad I took this track this morning he’s not my biggest buck but he was by far one of the hardest I’ve killed, he sure did make me earn him. I’m really looking forward to butchering him and hoping to find a bullet still in him. The bullets I’m shooting are 225gn Barnes tsx that I drilled the hollow point out to make them expand at the slower 35rem velocities. The bullets performed very well in my testing but I’m very curious how the perform on an animal. Cross country skier. His weird loops The spruce swamp Although I knew he was a buck it’s always nice to get reassurance After the first shots
    15 points
  5. Saw him once in my field at night about 2 weeks ago. Looks like hes staying in the area. Hope to see him this weekend.
    12 points
  6. Brother just called me, said he shot a huge buck from my back yard hut, hopefully it was a good shot
    11 points
  7. 10 points
  8. Update...they were great...reminded us of scallops but without a fish taste. I seriously highly recommend trying them!
    10 points
  9. Well here is he folks! Only went about fifty yards from where my buddy shot him. An absolute hammer with 15 scorable points and grossing out at 173. I actually know this buck well and have his shed from last year which I found about a half mile from where he was shot. I’ve got a ton of trail cam pics of him last year too. He was about 140 and we passed him because we thought he was 3. Looking at him this year I’d say he’s five now so must have been four last year. But boy are we happy we didn’t shoot him, what a jump! I told my buddy he owes me a gross booner now since I set the stand yesterday for this buck and was the one to find him when I almost stepped on him haha. But he’s taught me most everything I know about killing big bucks so glad to pay some of that back Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    10 points
  10. I think i have an addiction to trail cam pics! I love it when you get lucky enough to harvest a buck but I really love it when I can go back and look at pics of the deer from earlier in the season and even previous years! Here is a pic of my buck shot on Monday from about 1 week ago and 2 weeks ago. It's a shame he busted off all his points 1
    7 points
  11. Picked him up a couple of days ago. I never caught one this dark before.
    7 points
  12. I haven't gone back to my stands since my bow kill first weekend. Trying to stay out until Sat for gun opener. Think both pics are the same deer but I suck at this when there is angles. Second set of pics I just thought was cool because the doe went through and the buck was 4 minutes later mouth wide open.
    7 points
  13. Got a buck on the property that I've been chasing for the last two seasons. Seen within 30 yards each year, AFTER my buck tag has been filled! He is at least five years old. And has been seen by multiple people this season. I would love to hold off on the other bucks and take him? But at the very least, I want to shoot a three year old buck. Will just have to see how it all plays out. I just feel grateful to be here, to participate in another season! Hopefully my grandson will get out with me at some point too. THAT....would make my season more than any buck I may or may not shoot.
    7 points
  14. @dinorocks @wolc123 Would you target this buck for a different reason than the rack? The ballz on this guy!
    7 points
  15. Well this was stupid Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    7 points
  16. moog,you would be packed out. No one would drag you out.
    6 points
  17. Brown! and i just texted my buddy i am hunting with to be sure he covers any deer he drags by me, cause i might drop a couple in it just to be sure!
    6 points
  18. A deer with at least 3 legs, less than that wouldn't be fair.
    6 points
  19. Gun buck must be significantly bigger then any I take in bow . Here’s the bar this year .
    6 points
  20. Would you be willing to share the GPS track with us ? Obviously you can black out the coordinates, I really just wanna see the topography map and see the route the buck took .
    6 points
  21. So interesting end to the day. I watched that spike make a scrape about 80 yards out in between chase sessions. With 15 min in legal light I see another deer approaching the same area. He gets to the scrape and does his thing for a while, at this point I see hes big. Get the binos on him and immediately have my heart racing. The first sighting of the buck with sticker off the g2. I believe him to be a 12 or possibly a 13 point total. He was on the scrape for all 15 min of light! I had to wait it out and watch him stroll by around 520 at 30 yards. Yet another one I can say hell of a hunt! I have one bow hunt left on Thursday night just need to capitalize.
    6 points
  22. Haha! Good times i saw a ton of deer tonight, all at just prior to end of legal. Did see a spike chasing, there were probably 5-8 other deer. No clue on who was what....at that point it was about dark, real tough to see. Then at 5:15 a lone deer, could just barely see that it was in fact a deer....came through REEEAAAAAL slow, few steps...stop....minute later took a few more...stop....and so on, until i could barely hear crunching anymore...then i snuck out of there, I don’t feel as I spooked any thank god.
    5 points
  23. I've never killed a wall hangar so why start now. Heck I've only seen one in the woods. I'll hold out for a biggish buck and send it and shoot a big doe at any given moment.
    5 points
  24. Super Blackhawk.44 in a Kenai chest rig. 2 years ago this happened on opening day with daughter sitting next to me. Neither could get long guns off our lap as 2 came flying by I shot and bang , thump. Ears were tucked and trucking I verbally got them to stop. Thought I burnt my buck tag for a second but daughter measured and all good. 63 yard shot
    5 points
  25. Tonight I am going to roast , or bbq a Vancouver Bull fillet . I just seasoned it with salt, pepper, and garlic(olive) oil.
    4 points
  26. Back in the stand. Cold, but it stopped snowing, the sun is out and the wind died right down. Hopefully the deer get on their feet!! Not sure how much gas I have left in the tank... Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
    4 points
  27. Perfect. If a booner comes in I shoot and we wait for the doe for Jason to secure your accuracy!
    4 points
  28. Remember these things? They stunk to high heaven!
    4 points
  29. Coming off of just shooting my best buck a week and a half ago, I'm not going to hold out for something better because in reality I won't see one bigger than 135". Whatever feels right or fun at the time is getting it. A doe for sure, I'm actually meeting my father and brother on some state land even though I'm on a good lease this year with good bucks. My father is in his 70's now and I'll regret not joining them even if the hunting isn't the best, it could be my last opener with him, you just never know. I say if it feels right then pull the trigger. A "wall hanger" is different for everyone. Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk
    4 points
  30. I'm going out to fill my freezer. With no deer yet from bow season, getting low on meat. I'm out for anything except for little ones. My family only eats venison no store bought meat with additives.
    4 points
  31. I swear the older i get the more excited i get for the gun opener, the anticipation is a killer. I guess it always elicits great memories when i was a kid and i would tag along with my dad,. When i was around 8-10 years old my dad took me on a hunt, deep snow, real cold, saw him miss a running doe thru a field at last light, he was shooting and doe had a hard time escaping through the belly deep snow. Remember like it was yesrterday. Im now 49 and him 80. My desire to hunt gets greater with each passing year. Thanks Dad, the man who started my obsession!!
    4 points
  32. Stop by so I can slap your hand and say NO! to your face. There will be a "MEEEHHP" class given at the next GTG. Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk
    4 points
  33. And the venison shepherds pie is born!!! 1 tray for the up coming weekend and 1 tray for my liberal tree hugging union loving colleagues for tomorrow .... I like sharing with people who rarely have venison and you never know who then says, “wow this is good- will you shoot the 12 pointer in my backyard from my deck and make me some of that” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    4 points
  34. I am in awe of this post, and that you did it all from your iphone. You need to submit this story to a deer hunting magazine! It's that good of a story. Oh, and I got tired just reading about the ground you covered. Congratulations!
    4 points
  35. I just told my wife to wait like 5 times I was so into that post. Congrats!
    4 points
  36. 4 points
  37. Cool, first gun harvest post on the thread! Carly's first deer hunt (Youth Hunt) A couple weeks ago, my daughter Carly (14 yrs old) successfully completed her hunter safety training. She has a lifetime sportsman but unfortunately, I didn’t realize that we needed to submit her certificate to NYSDEC so they could mail her tags out to us. As we would not have received them in time for the Youth Hunt (I was informed a 2 week mailing time), I had to buy replacement tags. We borrowed a Savage 220 20 gauge bolt-action from a friend a few days ago as I thought that my 12 gauge would be a bit too much for her (thanks again TreeGuy (Andrew) for lending Carly your go-to deer gun) . Carly shot the gun a couple times to get familiar with the feel of it…the gun shot great as expected, and hitting the bullseye boosted her confidence. This morning around 6:45AM we headed out in 9F behind the house to my ground blind. The forecasted rain held out for a bit and the wind direction was in our favor. Around 7:30AM (sunrise at 7:24AM), Carly spotted a deer…I was not able to see it at first and thought she was looking at a squirrel. The deer was approximately 25 yards away and starting to feed under some wild apple trees. When the deer was broadside, my daughter sent it. I saw the deer jump in the air and run out of sight. She felt she made a good shot, as earlier, we spent a lot of time discussing shot placement. After several minutes I took a quick look for blood as it was now starting to rain…no blood. After a 20 yard walk in the direction the deer ran, I found one small drop of blood and then went back to the blind where we waited for another ~20 minutes. I would have ideally liked to wait longer but the rain was starting and I wanted to find a little more blood so I had a better idea of which direction the deer ran. No more blood was found. We decided to quietly take a trail along the creek to see where/if the deer crossed the trail…nothing. We then hiked up a ravine to re-group at the blood drop we first found…my daughter found the deer piled up under some wild rose bushes…about 75 yards from where the deer was shot…there was virtually no blood from where it ran when we back-tracked! After gutting the deer and a drag (uphill) to the main trail, I was able to bring the deer up to the house on the tractor. Carly was extremely happy and I was as proud! Now time to butcher!
    4 points
  38. Almost got shot on the big 10 pt, by himself came across neighbors wood 200 yards to 35 40 yards then circled down wind around 60 yards out. To thick.. ... still some time left.. ..
    3 points
  39. You got this Dave. Put the crosshairs on shoulder and squeeze. No doubting yourself permitted.
    3 points
  40. I'm in . 7F lease. Real fresh tracks in field by truck. I prob should've hunted there but wanted to pull all cams before sat. And sit the stand I moved late. @Biz-R-OWorld. Hunt #41. Try not to let you down!
    3 points
  41. Hope to get a few young hunters into spots where they will see and have an opportunity at a doe or buck. Fortunately all the youngins got doe permits. For myself.. idk not.really in mood to shoot anything. Season is so long......
    3 points
  42. No but I did with a Squatch
    3 points
  43. Saturday went out for the afternoon hunt sat at 2:30 a 9point buck down before 3. First deer with a crossbow. I was sitting for 10 minutes and a new buck in the area come through the woods with his nose down. Sniffed 30 yards broad side in front of me and he never made 40 feet. He was a big heavy bastard. My brother and I couldn't pick it up to put on the quad. Yesterday I butchered it up first time. The hardest part was skinning it. Taking the meat off wasn't bad and the grinder attachment from my wife's mixer work perfect. I have doe permit and a regular for next week so I will be doing it again real soon
    3 points
  44. Great story and Congratz on the great hunt! You do what a lot of us wish we had the dedication and skills to do but don’t. My legs hurt just reading this lol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    3 points
  45. My hardest decision is deciding which one to carry. My go to is a super rehawk in 480 topped with an ultradot. Or super blackhawk hunter in 44 mag . I have a super blackhawk in 41 mag that needs some love to . Those are my woods guns . If I'm hunting fields I have a contender in 357max or encore in 308.
    3 points
  46. If you can get both hands in there and can't clap, it's TIGHT !! At least that's what one of my old girlfriends used to tell me...
    3 points
  47. Both grandnephews connected this youth season. We did some scouting during the week. Seen several nice bucks and formed a game plan. Dom was up to bat first, as his older brother took his first deer last yr. Dom decided to only shoot a buck the first morning, but would gladly take a doe from then on. We were running late, but it ended up being a good thing. As we topped a rise in the field, Dom spotted a deer off to our left prob 300 yrds out. It was a buck. We quickly backtracked and got to the other side of the field and set up next to a large oak. About 10 min later, the buck came into view. He fed by at 60 yrds. Dom made a perfect shot, and he only went 30 yards. 132lb 4pt. This morning Kayden and I went to a different field but didn't see a thing. Around 8 we took a walk and bumped several deer. We decided to sit tight and 10 min later we seen two deer walking along the field edge about 80 yards out. His first shot hit, but I couldn't tell exactly where. I told him to shoot again. The second shot hit also. After 30 min we started tracking. After about 80 yrds, we jumped her. I noticed that she was hit in the shoulder, and it was obvious that his second shot wasn't in the vitals. We backed off for a couple hrs. Jumped her again 200 yrds further, but she only went 50 yrds before bedding. Snuck up and he finished her off. I think this doe meant more to him then his buck last yr. He had the emotions of highs and lows. Learned to read sign and follow a rather sparse blood trail. Learned to back off on a marginal hit.
    3 points
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